On November 16, 2020, citizen Josefina Huffington Archbold filed a “tutela” against the office of the President, the National Unit for Risk Management, the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Housing seeking the constitutional protection of their fundamental rights as well as those of the Afro-Caribbean ethnic group inhabiting the islands of Providencia and Santa Catalina. Plaintiff invoked a violation of the rights to housing, drinking water, basic sanitation, healthy environment, health, access to public information, free, prior and informed consultation and cultural identity. Claimant argued that defendants violated their fundamental rights during the planning and execution of the action plan set in motion to aid the islands after being hit, in November 2020, by hurricane Iota, which destroyed 98% of the islands.
The case was heard by a lower court judge, who denied the protection on the basis of a lack of violation. The decision was supported on reports that showed the defendants took some actions to respond to the hurricane and guarantee the fundamental rights of the islanders. Plaintiff appealed, and the Tribunal upheld this decision.
The Constitutional Court (the Court) decided to exercise its judicial review and overturned the previous decisions. The Court found that the violation of the fundamental rights of the plaintiff and the Afro-Caribbean ethnic group was substantiated, and that some of these violations continued to this day, two years after the hurricane Iota’s devastating pass through the islands.
The Court ordered defendants to ensure the protection of the rights of islanders. The Court highlighted the differentiated impact of climate change on communities in vulnerable situations and invoked the obligations of the Colombian state in the protection of human rights affected by the climate crisis. The Court explicitly mentioned the obligations under the Paris Agreement (ratified by Colombia and included in the domestic legal framework through Law 1844 of 2017), particularly those obligations related to adaptation measures and efforts towards communities in vulnerable situations.
Furthermore, the Court cited Resolution 3/21 (issued by the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights and REDESCA) quoting the grave risk countries in the Caribbean experience due to sea level rise and increase in hurricanes and tropical storms. The Court also mentioned the Inter-American Court of Human Rights’ Advisory Opinion 23/17 to underscore the vulnerable situation in which Caribbean communities in Colombia live and the obligation of states to guarantee the right to public participation in decision making, among other environmental human rights.
The Court found that the violation of the fundamental rights of the islanders was the result of a lack of compliance by the Colombian government of its domestic and international obligations. The Court issued specific orders to make sure the government’s response is adequate and highlighted that the comprehensive action plan to restore the islands had to consider Colombia’s obligations towards climate change mitigation and adaptation. In the Court’s reasoning, climate change is the biggest threat to the enjoyment of human rights, which extends to mitigation and adaptation measures with a special emphasis on communities in vulnerable situations due to socio-economic and geographic factors.
Case Documents:
Filing Date | Type | File | Summary |
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09/26/2022 | Decision | Download | Court decision |